ABSTRACT
In recent years, Justinian has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, and an important focus has been his religious policy. Theologians have drawn a much more nuanced picture of the dogmatic conflicts in his reign, and historians have underlined how important religious issues were for his perception of reality and, thus, for his politics.1 It has also become clear that even what modern people would call “personal piety” was central to Justinian’s imperial self-presentation. In many respects, he styled himself a holy man.2 His religious politics give the impression of being the work of a tyrant: it is well known that he oppressed and offended various priests and bishops, most notoriously Pope Vigilius, in the course of the Constantinopolitan synod of 553. Additionally, he disciplined monks by means of far-reaching legislation that aimed at controlling their monasteries and removing ascetics from the public sphere. In Justinian’s eyes, their main task was to pray for the government and to obtain God’s mercy for the empire and its pious emperor.3
